


Amass

by Siberianskys



Series: Trust Me [6]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, M/M, Meet the Family, Pre-Avengers (2012), Pre-Iron Man 1, Protective Phil Coulson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-04-03 23:18:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14007024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siberianskys/pseuds/Siberianskys
Summary: Clint meets Phil's family.





	1. Chapter 1

"How many brothers do you have?" Clint asked, looking at the number of cars parked in the circular driveway that Phil was pulling Lola into."

"I'm sorry," Phil said, squeezing his lover's leg. "It looks like the whole immediate family descended down on us and maybe a few of the extended members as well."

Clint pulled his eyes away from the cars in hopes that he'd be able to stop obsessing over how many people he was about to be judged by. Instead, he stared at the mansion that looked similar to the one they toured in Key West and wondered if it was the reason that Phil had talked him into taking the tour to begin with, a sort of warning, maybe.

"It'll be fine," Phil said as he parked Lola.

"I'm not so sure," Clint said. 

"We can always go back to the hotel and order carry-out," Phil said.

"And have your whole family know how much of a freak I am," Clint said, flinching at the way Phil's posture stiffened at his hated choice of word. On top of everything else, the last thing Clint wanted to do before facing the horde was for Phil to be angry with him. 

"Mom's already a fan. They don't have to worry about what I'll do to them if they're anything, but cordial."

Just as they made it to the top of the porch stairs, the front door flew open and a small towheaded boy came running out, holding his arms up to Phil. Clint smiled as Phil lifted the little kid and received a kiss on the cheek. 

"You really came," the little boy said, hugging Phil tightly around the neck and staring at Clint over his shoulder.

"Clint, this is Jamie," Phil said, "my cousin Hope's son."

"You're my Uncle Clint?" Jamie asked. 

Clint looked at Phil, using his eyes to plead for advice. He was disappointed when Phil's expression clearly stated that he was on his own. Clint finally decided to settle for nodding to Jamie in the affirmative.

Grammy said you can cook," Jamie said, staring at Clint. "Can you fix my waffle?"

"What's wrong with your waffle?" Clint asked. 

"It got burned," Jamie said, pouting. 

"I don't think there's any fixing that," Clint said, "but I could probably make you a new one." 

Jamie grinned and leaned over, holding his arms out toward Clint.

Clint took Jamie into his arms and walked through the fancy door that Phil held open for them.


	2. Chapter 2

Clint put Jamie down on his feet as he looked around the entryway. The house, as Clint feared, was just as ostentatious on the inside as it was the out. He asked himself how he got into this, of course, he knew the answer--he fell in love with a man way out of his league. He shuddered when he felt Phil's supportive hand at the center of his back, but still looked over his shoulder and tried to smile.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Phil said, 

"I promised the kid a waffle I'm not going to back out now," Clint said, holding out his hand to Jamie. "Lead on."

Jamie grabbed onto Clint's hand and tugged him toward the kitchen as Phil followed behind, smiling. 

Clint began to re-think this whole's waffle thing when they entered the chef's kitchen that looked like it belonged in hotel or something and Phil's family all turned to stare at him. Before he could freak-out too much, Phil's mother walked over to them and he allowed her to hug him. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest even though she was making it obvious to the other members of the family who had gathered that he was welcome.

"Grammy, Uncle Clint's going to make me a new waffle," Jamie said.

"James, Clint is a guest," Eleanor said.

"He said he'd feed me," Jamie said. 

"I did," Clint said, "and I will. So what kind of waffle have I agreed to make?"

"There are kinds?" Jamie asked. 

"Are there kinds? Of course, there are kinds. And I thought I was neglected," Clint said. 

"What's your favorite?" Jamie asked. 

"Cheese and bacon," Clint said. "First, I'm going to share a very important life lesson with you; everything is better with bacon."

"Even chocolate cake?" Jamie asked. 

"I'm not sure about cake," Clint said, "but chocolate covered bacon is awesome."

"Can we have chocolate in the waffles?" Jamie asked.

"I'm not sure chocolate goes with cheese," Clint said. "How about we check out the fridge and see what the options are?"

Jamie grinned and presented his closed fist and Clint responded with bumping it with his own. 

As they inspected the contents of the refrigerator, Clint heard Phil softly talking to his mother, but couldn't hear the content of the conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

Phil and his mother, Eleanor, watched as Clint made cheese and bacon waffles for Jamie as the boy sat on the kitchen counter observing his uncle with rapt attention. 

"He's good with children," Eleanor said. 

"So it would appear," Phil said. 

"You didn't know?" Eleanor asked. 

"He didn't have the best childhood," Phil said, "and we don't have a lot of interaction with children in our line of work. The one time we did, he avoided interacting with them."

"That didn't concern you?" Eleanor asked. 

"Why should it?" Phil asked. "He helped save a couple hundred child trafficking victims so I didn't really care if he wanted to hang-out or not."

"You've always wanted to be a father," Eleanor said. 

"That's not a conversation that we've had yet, Mother," Phil said. I hope that you'll keep that to yourself until we have."

"And if he doesn't want children?" Eleanor asked. 

"Even if he wants them as much as I do," Phil said, "our jobs make that very difficult. How about I get him to marry me first and then we can consider the next step?"

Eleanor smiled at her son. "I just want you to be happy."

"Then, please, let us work out our own relationship," Phil said. 

"I can do that," Eleanor said, "but your brothers may have other ideas."

"Speaking of my brothers--"

"Most of the adults are in the library and everyone else is in the game room," Eleanor said.

"Sorry to interrupt, but how many people am I feeding?" Clint asked.

"Just Jamie and I," Eleanor said. "The vote was for Thai, but Jamie is a picky eater and I don't want him to feel isolated. I know you probably think he's spoiled, but I indulge him. His father died in Afghanistan two years ago and his mother still has eight months left on her deployment."

Clint looked over his shoulder at Jamie. "I don't think he's spoiled; I think he's lucky.

Phil wrapped his arm around Clint's neck and kissed him on his cheek. "I think I'm lucky."


	4. Chapter 4

Clint felt more on display at Mrs. Coulson's dining room table than he had at Carson's Carnival. While the kids ate in the game room, the young ones watching something he didn't recognize and the older ones either on their laptops or phones, Phil's four brothers and their wives, after an uncomfortable introduction, sat around the table with them and Eleanor and tried unsuccessfully to covertly size him up as he interacted with Phil. He wondered how Phil could possibly be related to these people. After meeting Phil's mother, though still freaked-out, he wanted to believe that the rest of the family wouldn't treat him like the majority of the Ivy League educated S.H.I.E.L.D. agents did. 

He was surprised when Michael's wife, he thought her name was Katherine or Katerina, addressed him directly. "I'm sorry," Clint said, when he hadn't caught what she said. 

"This is going to sound strange," Carina said, "but weren't you once known as Hawkeye?" 

"What?" Clint asked, startled to hear his call sign from a civilian. 

"Why do you ask?" Phil asked.

"I hope I didn't overstep," Carina said, "I was just curious; you look like pictures I've seen from some research a PhD candidate that I'm advising was doing for her dissertation on outsiders, specifically on carnival and circus workers." 

Clint laughed until he couldn't breathe. 

"Is it okay to tell her--them?" Phil asked. 

Clint nodded as he got his laughter under control. 

"Clint's parents died when he was very young," Phil said, "and he and his older brother were put into foster care." 

"We ran away," Clint said, "and joined the circus."

"You aren't joking?" Edward, Phil's oldest brother, asked. 

"Nope," Clint said, "I really was a carny."

"I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable," Carina said, "it wasn't my intention."

"It's not like it's secret or anything," Clint said. "I just don't run around advertising it." 

"My student is having trouble finding people to interview," Carina said, "would you consider--"

"As long as she doesn't use my real name," Clint said, "I could do that."

"I know she'll appreciate it," Carina said. 

"Call Phil and he'll set it up," Clint said. 

"Thank you," Carina said. 

"No problem," Clint said as Phil's phone rang. He smirked when Phil rolled his eyes and stepped away from the table. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Coulson, but I'm pretty sure that's going to be dinner," Clint said, watching Phil as he had a quiet, but animated conversation with whoever was on the other end of the line. "Fuck," he muttered when his phone rang less than a minute later. Stepping away as well, he said, "Barton," into the phone. He groaned as he got his orders. Eastern Europe in winter was going to suck.


End file.
